


volleyball dorks: generations

by joyfulwriting



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, all these characters are mine btw, but there will be shippy stuff with the main characters!, one shots, original characters mostly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 10:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17641445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyfulwriting/pseuds/joyfulwriting
Summary: The next generation of Karasuno, Seijoh, Nekoma, Fukurodani, and Shiratorizawa kids! This is a collection of one shots about their adventures, shenanigans, etc.





	volleyball dorks: generations

**Author's Note:**

> The first story out of many! This is about Katsu Nishinoya, and her struggles through her ankle injury (I admittedly based her off myself a little, since I have issues with my ankle too) a LOT of work went into what kinds of ankle problems there were, and deciding on the right one. Chronic Ankle Instabilty is no joke people, look it up!

Katsu Nishinoya’s whole life revolved around volleyball, for as long as she could remember, and her plan was to get a volleyball scholarship one day for college. 

Well, it HAD been her plan, anyway. 

How had it changed so quickly? How had her whole life changed in the blink of an eye?

***

It had always just been Katsu and her father, Yu Nishinoya, for as long as she could remember. Her mother had left when she was a baby, and did that bother her sometimes? Sure, but her dad was the coolest, and as long as she had him, she didn’t need another parent in her life. 

He had been the one to introduce her to volleyball, and when she was a kid, they’d pass around at the park, and he’d tell her of his glory days in high school and in college. Little Katsu, while listening to these stories with wide eyes, vowed that she’d be on a team one day too, like her dad. 

She played in middle school, building up her endurance so that she could keep up with the third and second years in high school. She was absolutely ready.

Her first year, she learned that she had a lot to learn about the sport still, more than what her father had told her or taught her. Katsu even made friends who enjoyed volleyball as much as her, in her class. Ryu and Tamaki Kageyama, and Taro Azumane. When she mentioned them to her dad, he exclaimed happily that he knew their parents, and they should absolutely be friends. She took his encouragement to heart, and realized they all had common interests, becoming fast friends with the boys. They ate lunch together and walked to their clubs together, training together and goofing off in their spare time. 

The girl’s team at Karasuno was pretty good, and she became fast friends with them. They played well, and soon Katsu had established her role as a middle blocker, the same position she’d played in middle school. They won, and they lost too, Katsu just thanked her lucky stars she had two more years, which meant two more years to win more for her team. 

Her second year, she met a first year girl in the volleyball club, Junko Tanaka. She was loud, boastful, and very determined. Katsu recognized her last name, but didn’t say anything until the girl came and introduced herself, gushing about how their dads knew each other. It was then that Katsu took Junko under her wing, and into her friend group too. Things were good, really good. Her team was training to enter the next tournament coming up, and they were ready. 

But, you know the saying. Things happen when you least expect them to. 

***

Katsu was breathing hard, Karasuno in its second set against Seijoh. She stared down her opponents, keeping an eye on their number two. She was their setter, and way too good at it too. Sweat poured down Katsu’s face, and she tried to ignore this weird throbbing pain in her right ankle. It’d been happening since this morning, but she figured it’d go away with pain medication. Turns out, it didn’t. 

She heard Junko pumping herself up for set number two, Seijoh had taken the first set, and they weren’t about to lose so easily. She glanced back at the stands and saw her dad, Junko’s dad, and her friends with their parents, who were also Karasuno alumni. Lots of people to make proud up there. 

Their number one, whom everyone knew as Yumi Oikawa, their team captain, was up to serve. The Aoba Johsai side of the court cheered loudly for her, reverberating to Katsu’s very core. She prepared to move, despite that pesky throbbing again. 

Junko moved quickly, anticipating the spike and sending the ball back into the air. “Chance ball!” 

Their captain, Kaede Hasegawa, sent it back over the net, crouching down and preparing to move again. “Be ready!”

Seijoh’s setter was getting ready to set up a toss, which was her cue as well as a few others to move forward. She squeezed her eyes shut and blinked back tears as another sharp pain shot through her ankle. “Just fight through it, Kat,” she grit her teeth, positioning herself to jump and block. She jumped, blocking the ball from getting over the side. She gasped as she came back down, landing awkwardly on her foot and having it slide out from under her. She hit the floor, finally letting the tears loose. It hurt so bad, that landing finally did her in. She heard gasps coming from the crowd, and saw her teammates gathering around her, asking her if she was okay.

“Katsu!” Junko ran up to her, looking down at her. “Are you okay??” 

“I-I’m fine—“ She started, being interrupted by Kaede. 

“Katsu, your ankle looks incredibly swollen.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, but you can’t play, not right now, you need to get it checked out right away.”

“I’m fine, Kaede!” She grunted, attempting to get back on her feet. Bad idea. “I-I can play!”

“Kiddo, you okay?” Her dad came down, crouching down next to her. His eyes were full of worry. “We’re going to get it checked out, okay? No ifs ands or buts.”

“But—“

“Hey, cmon.” He scooped her up off the floor, holding her tightly and protectively against his chest. “It’s okay, we’re gonna figure out what happened out there.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes, her cheeks burning. She’d witnessed injuries on the court before, but actually being the one getting injured was embarrassing, having everyone around you, even if it was with good intentions, she didn’t want all the attention on her. 

They got down to the infirmary, where her ankle was checked out. The woman doing her examination looked concerned, especially when she looked at her ankle closely. “Have you had sprains before?”

Well, duh, that was kind of the drawback of sports, you got injured, whether it be a bloody nose due to a ball hitting you smack in the face, or spraining your ankle. When she nodded, the technician’s face went grim. “What..?”

“Have they been properly treated? Iced, wrapped, all that?”

Katsu bit her lip. Admittedly, she did the bare minimum when it came to treating sprains. She probably didn’t ice it for as long as she should, and she didn’t keep it elevated for long periods of time. But surely that wouldn’t have anything to do with this?

The tech sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I’m no doctor, but you really should have that checked out by a professional. It really doesn’t look good.”

“We will. Thank you.” Yu sighed and picked her back up, carrying her to the car. “I thought you were good about your sprains?”

“I am! My ankle always feels better after a few days.” She sighed. “I just hope this isn’t bad..”

***

It was bad. 

When they arrived, and finally got checked in, the doctor confirmed what the tech had been implying. 

“It’s called Chronic Ankle Instability, basically it means that your ankle is unstable. It’s caused by a sprain that didn’t heal properly, or multiple sprains even.” The doctor hummed, holding her chart in his hands. “Your ligaments in your ankle have been growing weaker, and with all the strain you put on it, it definitely doesn’t help.”

Katsu gulped and grabbed her dad’s hand. “So.. What does this mean..?”

“Well, we’d have to run a few more tests, to see whether we can treat this in a non surgical way, or if we can’t, then surgery is the only way to repair those ligaments.” 

She heard her dad sigh and squeeze her hand tighter. “And is it guaranteed that she’ll be back to normal after doing whatever treatment?”

“We’d have to keep an eye on it, but she should be fine. I just would advise against any strenuous activities. Sports, any sort of hard exercise—“

“Wait, what?? No no, I’m on the volleyball team, you’re telling me that I can’t play anymore?” Katsu felt like she was going to be sick, what if she couldn’t play anymore?

He sighed softly. “I’m not telling you not to, I’m strongly suggesting that you not play right now, unless you don’t want your ankle to heal. I’ll be back.” And with that, he left, leaving Katsu reeling. She wasn’t paying attention to what her dad was saying, how could she, when her future volleyball career was potentially out of reach?

It turned out she did need surgery, as the damage to her ligaments was too great. Katsu wanted it over as soon as possible, so they had it scheduled for the next week. For the time being though, Yu took her home and told her to just take it easy, and that they’d see about digging her crutches out of their storage room so she could move around. She had merely nodded, looking at her swollen and somewhat crooked ankle, propped up on some pillows. What could she say? She was afraid if she said anything, she’d burst into tears, and Katsu Nishinoya was NOT a crybaby.

***

The day of her surgery, she’d gotten a bunch of calls from her friends, Junko, and even Kaede. She appreciated the well wishes, and it eased her nerves a little. Katsu was starving, but she wasn’t allowed to eat anything (something about messing with the anesthesia), and so all she had was a little water beforehand. She couldn’t wait to eat afterwards. 

It seemed like her dad was a lot more nervous than she was, and honestly, reassuring him distracted her from her own nerves. Kinda like she was reassuring herself. 

And so, she sat there while doctors came in and marked her ankle, talking about what they were going to do and what the plan was for after. She’d have to stay the night, but only for pain management, and she’d be good to go the next day. 

When it was time for the surgery, she held up her fist for a fist bump, her and her dad’s way of saying bye. He smiled weakly at her and instead opted to hug her close to him and kiss her head. Jeez, he was really out here trying to make her cry huh? “Dad, it’s okay, I’m going to be okay.”

“I-I know that! Can’t your dad give you a hug?” He huffed, ruffling her hair. “I’ll see you when you wake up kid, alright?”

She smiled and waved to him as she was being rolled off. “See you when I wake up.”

***

Coming off anesthesia was really trippy.

Katsu felt like she wasn’t in control of her limbs, her head was just flopping about as she tried to turn her head to look around. Her dad was watching some show on tv, but helped her drink some water that the nurse had brought in. He said the doctors said the surgery went well, and for the time being her ankle had been casted so it could heal properly.

She wasn’t awake for much longer, the pain medication they had her on made her really sleepy, and she was knocked out until the next morning when she was being discharged. On the way home, her dad joked that he could piggyback her inside, to which she gladly agreed. What she didn’t expect, though, was her captain, Kaede, waiting outside.

Kaede stood up and bowed, smiling up at Katsu. She was wearing the team jacket and a pair of shorts, her hair tied back. “Hi Katsu, how are you?”

“Oh, fine, just healing I guess.” She grinned. “Being carried.”

She laughed. “I see, um, could we talk?”

Oh boy, whenever people said that, it was never good. “Okay.. dad, take me to my room?”

Kaede followed as Yu carried her to her room, setting her gently on the bed. “I’ll be in the living room.”

“Okay.” Katsu turned to Kaede, who was perched on the edge of her bed. “What’s up?”

“I just, well.. I wanted to say that I hope you’re able to come back to the team!” She sniffled, rubbing her eyes. “God..”

“Kaede??”

“Sorry! Sorry, it’s just.. No one is the same without you there, practice isn’t the same. And I know your ankle is gonna be weaker after this,” she paused. “And if you don’t come back, I’d understand..”

Katsu frowned. “All of that is kinda up in the air right now..”

“I know, and.. well, I’d like to hope that even if you can’t return to the team, you’ll still be apart of it in spirit, or show up for games?” Kaede said tentatively, smiling. “Because you’ll always be apart of the team, and always be apart of the family.” 

Katsu teared up, nodding. “T-Thank you, I really, really appreciate that..” 

She nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. “O-Of course! Oh my god you’re crying—“

“So are you!” 

She laughed and wiped her tears. “Oh boy.. hey, can I sign your cast?” A complete about face, but that was normal for Kaede. When Katsu nodded and pointed out where the nearest sharpie was (on her desk), she signed her name neatly and added a little smiley face next to it. “There!”

“Heh, thank you..” Katsu looked up at her, smiling widely. “For everything.”

Kaede beamed down at her, nodding. “Anytime.”

***

And while Katsu could never really return to playing volleyball, it was too hard on her ankle after all, she did find a better alternative: being the boy’s team manager. Her friends played, and she’d be able to get her daily dose of volleyball. 

The coach, Daichi Sugawara, was nothing like her coach. They were both tough, but Daichi was a little easier on them. Katsu sat on the bench next to him while they practiced spiking, the sound of the ball smacking the floor being like music to her ears. Next to her sat water bottles and towels, as well as a Tamaki’s glasses. 

“Katsu, let me ask you something, if you don’t mind.” Daichi hummed, looking down at her. When she looked up in response, he continued. “Is it difficult, not being able to play right now?”

Katsu looked out at the court, and she thought back on how often she wished that was her out there, throwing up blocks and shouting to her teammates. “Of course, but.. at the same time. I know one day I can, somehow.”

He smiled down at her and looked back out at the court as well. “You know, you remind me of your dad a lot.”

She grinned. “I get that a lot.”

“It’s a good thing, and I believe one day you’ll get back out there. I can see it.” 

Katsu smiled wider, a determined look on her face. Sure, she had to wear a brace on her right ankle, and she walked a little weird, but it didn’t slow her down. 

And, spoiler alert, she ends up back on the court one day, so in the end, her plans weren’t completely ruined. But that’s for another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you guys love these babies as much as Nessa and I do, I hope you do!


End file.
